OCTOBER 2012clubs & community 6

Clubs & Community Calendar

Sep. 27 - Oct. 27- Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens 7:30 p.m.-2 a.m. $30 and up

Oct. 6- Marching Cowboys marching competition at Seminole 8 p.m.

Oct. 9- Band and orchestra fall concert in Auditorium 7 p.m.

Oct. 23-26- Club Week

Oct. 27- Marching Cowboys marching competition at Largo High School 8 p.m.

Nov. 3- FBA District Marching Assess-ment at Strawberry Crest 5 p.m.

Nov. 17- Florida State Marching Band Championships at Tropicana Field 11 a.m.

Nov. 19-23- Fall Break

Nov. 27-30- Club Week

Administration has established a new policy limiting students’ mem-bership to interest, service and honor clubs.

Starting this year students can join a maximum of six clubs of any type, as opposed to the former rule where students could be members of any number of clubs so long as their parents approved which was reflected in the club permission form. Further-more, students are limited to only two interest clubs.

“We increased the limit on inter-est clubs to two, originally it was one. The reason we chose six was because the club schedule is different; there are now four opportunities to meet. Six will work. [Student’s] may have to split between two clubs, people may have to double up on the club period, but doubling up two out of the four days is plenty. If it were more, stu-dents wouldn’t be able to give as much to each club,” said Assistant Principal of Student Affairs, Marketta Gouge.

Limitations on club membership may not affect every student as not everyone is a member of more than six clubs.

However, students who planned to be a member of over six clubs, or more than two interest clubs feel op-pressed.

“[With this new policy] I feel like my true potential is limited,” said se-nior Joe Sison.

The purpose of the new club policy is to keep students focused on their extracurricular activities by having them prioritize what they want to be involved in.

“It’s more of a statement. Students are going to have to pick which clubs they can be a part of…It’s not physi-cally possible to be in more than six clubs and make a difference,” said Gouge.

The policy will be enforced by all clubs and their sponsors. As of this year, students will be required to fill out an additional club application for every club they join and a parent must sign each of these club permis-sion forms.

Despite the intention to help stu-dents focus on their extracurricular activities, some students argue that the policy is restricting student in-volvement in their clubs.

“I don’t think the school should cap us because if we want to be involved, we should be able to be as involved as

we want,” said senior Louis Betz.Many students who partake in

clubs do so to impress colleges or gain scholarships. Limitations on club membership may have negative ef-fects on their goals.

“[This policy will] hurt me because when I apply for college, they may not know about that policy and students could be seen as uninvolved,” said Betz.

Gouge expects our new policy to have positive, if any effects.

“Most students aren’t in more than six clubs. But if they are, then they will have to make the choice. It’s about making a choice,” said Gouge.

Interest clubs, honor societies, and service clubs do a great amount of work for our school and for the com-munity.

The new club policy is designed to students to focus on a few extracur-ricular activities, rather than spread themselves out too thin.

“Our students do a great job with the clubs with donations, Special Olympics, and Relay for Life. It’s about giving to the community,” said Gouge.

With the new policy in place, stu-dents will have to forward their at-tention on their top priority clubs.

Sahar TakshiCenterspread Editor

Administration changes club membership policy for upcoming yearLimitations are imposed upon the number of clubs a student can join in order to ensure students do not over-involve themselves with ex-tra curricular activities that will distract them from academics

Volunteer opportunities in the community

YMCA – Located behind the soccer fields on campus, the Bob Sierra Youth and Family Cen-ter takes volunteers ages 14 and up. Volunteers can work in all programs offered at the YMCA, including aquatics, gymnastics and youth sports. Visit www.tampaymca.org to register to become a volunteer.

Metropolitan Ministries – MM is an organization dedicated to aiding the homeless and hungry. Expectations from prospective volunteers are filling out an online application and attending an orientation. Sign up to volunteer at www.metromin.org.

Florida Aquarium – Volunteers must submit an application and complete a required orientation. Volunteers must be 16 years or older. Enroll-ment fee is $30. The Florida Aquarium requires its volunteers to have a six-month volunteering commitment working a minimum of eight hours a week.

MOSI – Offering lots of volunteer positions, from Bio-works Butterfly Assistant to HAM Radio Op-erator, the Museum of Science and Industry is a volunteer option for those interested in science and technology. According to their website, po-tential volunteers must be willing to work a minimum number of shifts per week. To apply to become a volunteer at MOSI, visit www.mosi.org.

In order to attain scholarship opportunities like Bright Futures, students need 100 vol-unteer hours. Here are some organizations within the community that have volunteer programs.

Compiled by Jackie Lawson

Compiled by Taylor Yonke

OCTOBER 2012clubs & community 6 THE PONY EXPRESS clubs & community 7

Gearing up to emulate the gruesome wrath of the Trickster, Busch Gardens’ separate ticket event Howl-O-Scream is returning to the theme park for its thirteen year anniversary.

The magic of the event lies in the clever details and decorations surrounding the park.

“We’ve hidden secret 13’s all over the park. The one most people won’t find is that Blood Asylum, one of our haunted houses, is labeled the James Oglethorpe asylum. Oglethorpe was the founder of Georgia – the thirteenth colony,” said Busch Gar-dens’ Creative Director of Production Scott Swen-son.

Howl-O-Scream 2012 is designed to be the se-quel to the previous year’s theme, “The Dark Side of The Gardens.” This year guests can expect to see the plotline following the original story of the Trick-ster.

“The concept of the Trickster is that he is an ex-tension of last year’s character – the lady in white. We saw her story last year in one part of the gar-dens and now we are seeing another side of the gardens. The houses this year are created with the Trickster in mind. The Nightshade Toy Factory was contaminated by a chemical spill. Was it an accident or was it the trickster?” said Busch Gardens’ Enter-

tainment Show Manager Alex Crow. The careful planning and preparation that goes

into the creation of Howl-O-Scream is as intense as it is intricate. Months prior to the opening, the creative directors engage in tons of research. Their main strategy revolves around organizing focus groups.

“We ask our focus groups what’s scary and what’s not. We also listen to the guests. I’m at the event every night and I see what the guests really like and what doesn’t work. Our team stops what doesn’t work and continues with what the guests re-ally want,” said Swenson.

The popular Halloween attraction accepts audi-ences of all ages, but maintains a minimum PG-13 standard for the scare factor.

High school students are the perfect audience for this event.

“I would like to visit Howl-O-Scream this year because I’ve heard so much about all the terrifying attractions,” said junior Tri Kantrasiri.

Busch Gardens’ production team aims to scare guests with its haunting attractions.

“The idea is that different things scare different people. We want you to be scared, that’s our goal,” said Crow.

There are five haunted house themes reappear-ing from the previous year, each with specific twists. Two scare zones are also set up in the park.

Another returning feature that attendees can

look forward to is the reservation-only haunted house Alone. Guests enter into the house either by themselves or in groups of up to four. Simulating a labyrinth, the only instruction given is to find the exit.

“Alone is our most popular attraction. It was sold out every single night, which is incredible. I’d say only five percent of our guests in total were able to experience it last year, so we brought it back,” said Swenson.

Significant changes will be enacted for this up-coming Howl-O-Scream season. Club XIII will pre-miere as a nightclub for ticketholders 18 years and up. “Roaming Hordes,” groups of performers, will ro-tate around the park in attempts to scare guests and keep the mood of the event.

New shows are also on the line-up. Fan favorite “Fiends” has moved to the Desert Grill as a part of a meal deal. There are two new atmosphere shows – “The Awakening” and “Slip of the Tongue,” a magic show. The main goal of Howl-O-Scream’s production team is simple – scare people.

“There’s a quote by Steven King that goes some-thing like ‘If I can’t scare you, I will gross you out. I have no shame.’ And that’s what we are going to do at Howl-O-Scream,” said Swenson.

Howl-O-Scream runs throughout the month of October and end of September on every Thursday, Friday and Saturday after the park closes for the day. Prospective attendees can order tickets in ad-vance online at www.howloscream.com. That is, as

Jackie LawsonEditor-in-chief

Beta/National Honor Society Inductions

Place: Auditorium **Inductees meet in the cafeteria

by 5:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012

6:00 – 7:00 p.m.

Newspaper, TV Production and Yearbook staffs attend Florida Scho-lastic Press Association Workshop at

the University of South Florida.

Friday, Oct. 5, 2012

Students will compete against other high school journalists in the area.

Science Brain Bowl

Museum of Science and Industry

Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012

Students associated with Science Honor Society will compete in an academic competition.

October Club Activities

Busch Gardens’ Howl-O-Scream celebrates 13th anniversaryThe Dark Side of the Gardens returns with haunted houses, scare zones to strike fear into guests

Compiled by Jackie Lawson

Howl-O-Scream features a variety of attractions and entertainment for its guests. Creative Direc-tor of Production Scott Swenson (pictured left) said they added a bunch of hidden 13’s through-out the park in honor of the 13th anniversary.

Jackie Lawson/Pony Express